Cliburn Finalists: Virtuosos of Toughness

By BERNARD HOLLAND, Special to The New York Times

Published: June 8, 1989

FORT WORTH, June 7—
It has been said that the purpose of music competitions is to identify performers first, musicians second. Decisions made early this morning by the 14 jurors of the Van Cliburn International Competition tend to confirm the thought. The list of finalists reads as follows: Aleksandr Shtarkman, Eliso Bolkvadze and Aleksei Sultanov of the Soviet Union, Ying Tian, a Chinese now living in Boston, Jose Cocarelli of Brazil and Benedetto Lupo of Italy.

Of the pianists who have been chosen from 12 semifinalists to play in the Cliburn's final rounds, all have withstood with unusual fortitude the pressures of these early rounds. At least half are impressive musical talents as well. Yet some of this event's most interesting musicians have been left behind and some of the least interesting have succeeded.

For the finals, the Cliburn will move from Texas Christian University to the Tarrant County Convention Center Theater. Beginning on Thursday night, the remaining contestants will perform two concertos each with the Fort Worth Symphony under Stanislaw Skrowacewski. Winners will be announced early Sunday evening.

Aleksei Sultanov is a remarkably solid talent, with a big pure ringing tone and an almost unshakable ability to convey virtuoso detail in clear outline. On the other hand, his generic interpretations of ubiquitous repertory (the Beethoven ''Appassionata'' and Chopin B-minor Sonatas in the semifinals, with the Chopin F-minor and Rachmaninoff C-minor Concertos scheduled for the final rounds) comment on the more gladiatorial and extramusical aspects of current concert life.

Miss Bolkvadze is another formidable talent. On Monday, she colored her pieces from Ravel's ''Miroirs'' beautifully, yet in all her playing one has sensed the drama of enormous concentration triumphing over anxiety and distress. Miss Bolkvadze seems not to be having a very good time, and so neither are her listeners. Among the three Russians, Mr. Shtarkman evidently has the broadest mind and the most human qualities.

Mr. Ying's success gives hope that the competition process can reward highly individual approaches to music, while Mr. Cocarelli's advance - at least to this writer - reaffirms the often repeated idea that middle-of-the-road competence still pays off at competitions. On the face of it, Mr. Lupo's personality is also not terribly distinctive, being neither extravagant nor innovative. But his playing has transcended the ''standardness'' of its format and has demonstrated that sheer elegance, straightforwardly conveyed, has a power all its own.

One sorely misses the presence of Pedro Burmester from Portugal -one of this event's most interesting musical personalities. But if indeed the purpose of the Cliburn is to pick sturdy stage professionals over sensitive but bruisable souls, Mr. Burmester's disappearance is explainable.

He did not have a happy day in his semifinal recital round this afternoon, where for the first time the strains of competing began to show. The audience heard this not only in the errors throughout the Beethoven Sonata (Op. 7) but also in a sense of dynamic scale that was almost distortive. The Beethoven, despite its extroversions and its transplantation to the modern piano, is still a Classical sonata, and in it, Mr. Burmester's rangings from pianissimo to triple fortissimo seemed excessive. This effort to create enormous climaxes made its way into his Bach and Wagner transcriptions as well. A man previously notable for his cool control and imaginative spirit seemed suddenly to be trying too hard.

Kevin Kenner, the only American to play in the semifinals, was also a mildy surprising failure. Many expected sheer exuberance to carry him into the finals. Again this may have been another jury decision more pragmatic than idealistic. Mr. Kenner's performance of ''La Valse'' by Ravel demonstrated a technique able to handle almost any complication clearly and confidently. And the high-tech extravagance of John Corigliano's ''Etude Fantasy'' was probably as well articulated as this piece deserved.

Yet despite Mr. Kenner's exceptional feeling for line - the ability to transcend metric regularity and move by the music's own laws of motion from Point A to Point B - the Chopin B-flat-minor Sonata was all surging confusion, especially in its opening movement.

Mr. Kenner's engaging spirit is still a little rough. As they have demonstrated here, pianists like Mr. Ying and Mr. Lupo have found a sound -the same kind of ''ping'' we find among good opera singers, that presence in their touch that transcends loudness or power. Mr. Kenner's ear is still searching for that ping just as his mind is searching for more self-control. He is 26 years old, and often late-developing artists become in the end the most interesting ones.

Half of the semifinal round just finished has consisted of chamber music played with the Tokyo String Quartet. In this format, Mr. Burmester did very well and Mr. Kenner played awkwardly. Yet one wonders how much the judges paid attention to either one.

Indeed, in this otherwise intelligently planned competition, the chamber music aspect seems almost irrelevant. Practicing an art that requires the most subtle of blendings -and to do it after one rehearsal, as it must be done here - virtually defeats the idea of intimate communication, especially given the modern piano's oversized sonority. At events like the Cliburn, moreover, chamber music forcibly joins a presumably stress-ridden novitiate to a set of confident and opiniated professionals. Despite the Tokyo's good will, the contestant is often either dragged along in its wake or else must fight its grudging disapproval. The Cliburn, moreover, is searching for star quality; asking potential stars to fade into a group sends confusing messages.

Perhaps the wisest way to judge the chamber music round has been to listen primarily to the string players, who have offered clear reflections of their contestant-colleagues. Sometimes the Tokyo has played well, sometimes not well at all - depending, I think, on the degree of communication with the pianist at hand. Its string sound and ensemble has been alternately stiff and harsh (with Mr. Cocarelli in the Dvorak Quintet) and warm, precise and transparent (during the quintets played by Mr. Ying and Mr. Burmester and, from all reports, by the Frenchman Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as well).

The chamber music category at the Cliburn looks good - advertising the musical seriousness of this event above and beyond mere star quality. - but in the end it might be more cosmetic than substantial. One tongue-in-cheek suggestion is to replace it with a round of requests, with the audience calling out its favorites. Mr. Shtarkman, it has been observed, might do a wonderful ''Melancholy Baby.''

Photos of the finalists in the Van Cliburn International Competition, Jose Cocarelli of Brazil; Eliso Bolkvadze of the Soviet Union; Ying Tian, a Chinese living in Boston; Aleksei Sultanov and Aleksandr Shtarkman of the Soviet Union, and Benedetto Lupo of Italy. (Steve J. Sherman)